Taboo
by MelodiousAlchemist
Summary: There was one rule that must never be broken at Death Weapon Meister Academy - A weapon and a meister could never, under any circumstances, become lovers. (Maka x Soul) Rated M for later chapters and some swearing.
1. Surprise

Death Weapon Meister Academy. The school that every weapon and meister aimed to get into. Ruled by Lord Death himself, only the best of the best could complete their years there, and turn their weapon into something everyone desperately sought after. A Death Scythe. Very few have ever managed to become death scythes, and even fewer manage to complete their years at the school without tragedy. There weren't many rules to follow at the school aside from the few, large ones that were there to protect students. But, there was one rule that was held above all others:

_A meister and a weapon could never, under any circumstances, become lovers_.

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A soft sigh exited the lips of the young, eighteen year old blonde who had just exited one of the cafes in Death City. She placed her cup against her lips, allowing the warm liquid to pour into her mouth and refresh her senses. She felt several cold, icy objects hit against her nose, and she giggled as she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. She loved the winter. She loved the snow, the way the stars seemed to shine brighter; she loved it all.

She was about to take another sip of her drink when she heard an ear-piercing scream echo throughout the streets of the city. She glanced around, and felt the presence of a rather large kishin nearby. She would take it on, of course, aside from her one problem. Her weapon had stayed back at their apartment while she went to the café.

She hurriedly ran down the street, until she came across the area in which the soul emanated the strongest. On the ground in front of her were the bodies of two now deceased victims of the kishin she had sensed; a young woman, and a young man. She heard a quiet whine from somewhere in the shadows, and upon closer examination, she saw a small baby carriage. This peaked her interest, and she slowly walked over beside it.

She was met by the large eyes of a baby girl, and was greeted by a happy squeal of delight when the child saw her. Maka smiled softly, her hands grabbing the small child and pulling her against her chest. "Come here, little one. I won't let you get hurt…" she breathed as she kissed the head of the small child. She looked around cautiously before beginning to make her way back to her apartment. The soul emanation had grown weaker, so she knew the kishin had most likely fled the scene.

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The white-haired teen was jolted awake by the sound of a loud slam, and he groaned. "Dammit… Maka, are you alright?" he mumbled as he ran his palms across the skin of his eyes. When he received no answer, he grumbled to himself and rose to his feet. His left hand reached behind him and tugged on the back of his bottoms, and he tucked his shirt into his pants with his right.

"Maka, come on… now isn't the time to be screwing arou-" He stopped when he opened the door into her room, and his eyes widened when he saw her feeding… a baby? He padded into the room and took his place on the couch, his eyes not once wandering from the small child Maka held within her arms. "Hey, Maka… what's that thing doing here?" he asked as he reached over, his forefinger very softly pressing against the cheek of the young baby.

"Soul, she's not a '**_thing_**.' She's a baby. Her parents were killed by a kishin when I was going to come home from the café. If I had left it out there, it certainly wouldn't have made it…" Maka replied as she watched the child suck on the nipple of the bottle she held in her hand. Soul tilted his head, his eyebrow raising slightly. "But, what about Lord Death? I'm sure he doesn't approve of-" "I already talked to him about it."

This surprised Soul, seeing as how Lord Death usually wouldn't allow a baby to live under the care of two students going to his school. "He said that as long as our grades remain high, and we don't get distracted in any sort of way, we may keep the baby and raise her. Since he found out his mother and father were the only living relatives the child had, there was no one else he could possibly give her to," Maka said as she gently kissed the baby's forehead.

Soul scoffed, and he folded his arms across his chest. "Maka, come on. We're eighteen. I'm sure Lord Death can trust us to take care of a baby. Besides, we're only one witch away from turning me into a Death Scythe. And this time, we aren't gonna screw it up." This earned a small laugh and smile from his blonde partner, and she gave a quick nod of her head. "Of course. No more magic cats this time."

Soul rubbed the back of his neck, and then looked at the small baby, now asleep in Maka's arms. "Hey, does she have a name?" Maka sighed, and slowly shook her head. "No. There was no way of telling since the mother and father both got killed… but I like the name Madeline." Soul grinned a toothy smile, and nodded his head in agreement. "Little squirt. I'm gonna call you Maddie for short." Maka smiled softly at her partner, and watched him gently poke at Madeline's cheek once more.

"Soul… did you ever plan to have children one day?" This took her partner aback for a moment, and then he nodded. "Yeah. I did. I wanted to have at least three kids when I got older. But, I'm certain the person who I wish to have them with wouldn't ever take me anyway," he mumbled as he laid his head back against the couch. "Oh? You know who you want to have them with? Who is it, Soul?" she asked with a curious smile. This made Soul's cheeks flush red, and he quickly rose to his feet. "It's none of your damn business, Maka…" he hissed as he hastily made his way back into his room and shut the door.

Maka laughed quietly, and she rose to her feet before carrying the small child into her room and laying her down on the soft fabric of her bed. She threw off her jacket and changed into a more comfortable sleep shirt, along with some pants, and then laid down beside the young girl. Maka's fingers brushed aside some hair from the sleeping child's face, and she sighed softly.

"**_Oh Soul… if only you knew that she would take you if you gave her the chance…_**"


	2. Play

The next morning, Soul awoke to the sound of running water. He blinked slowly, his vision blurry and his eyes still heavy. He rose out of bed, his fingers running across his bare chest and up to his eyes as he tried to rid them of their sleepiness. He wandered into the next room and nearly ran into a wall, and then made his way into the bathroom. He opened the door and walked inside, only to be greeted by a happy squeal of delight.

"Maka… what the hell are you doing up so early? Jesus… it's like… ten…" Soul mumbled as he continued trying to wake himself. Maka scoffed quietly, and watched the baby girl splash around in the bathtub. "Ten isn't late, Soul. And you should be up anyway. We need to take care of Madeline." Soul's attitude softened when he heard Madeline's name, and he gave a sleepy smile. "So that whole deal with the little squirt wasn't a dream, huh?"

Maka laughed quietly and wiped a bit of water from her brow. "Yeah. Madeline is still here, Soul. And I plan on taking care of her for as long as I can. I'll give her the life that-" She stopped, her gaze dropping to the floor in front of her. "I'll… I'll give her the life that I never had." This made Soul's lips turn into a frown, and he folded his arms across his chest.

"Your damn father needs to step it up and be a father to you. But, let's not talk about that. I know how much talking about him upsets you, he said as he walked beside her and grabbed a small bottle of soap. He squirted some into the palm of his hand, and began to very gently rub it into Madeline's light brown hair. Madeline's small lips broke out into a smile, and she reached up to take a light hold on Soul's wrist.

"Hmm… she's going to be a daddy's girl." This made Soul's cheeks flush red, and he avoided looking at his meister. "Daddy, huh? I suppose I wouldn't mind that." Maka giggled and grabbed a cup, helping her weapon partner rinse the soap out of the child's hair. Before Maka could say anything, Soul grabbed the dripping baby and pulled her out of the tub, skillfully wrapping a fluffy, pink towel around her.

"Well, well, well. Seems like daddy Soul is already getting the hang of things," Maka teased as she drained the tub of the slightly tainted water. Soul scoffed and carried Madeline into his room, making sure to grab a diaper and a purple onesie for the child on his way. As if following some sort of instinct, Soul began to clothe the child, and he did so almost flawlessly. The only problem he had was getting Madeline's left foot into the correct side of her onesie.

Maka giggled as she walked into his room, and she finished helping him. "Good job, Soul. I can't believe you knew how to get one of those onto her. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you already had a child of your own," she teased as she gently nudged his shoulder. Soul rolled his eyes and watched as Maka picked Madeline up and held her against her chest.

"Soul, I don't think Lord Death is going to have any kind of job for us today. I mean, the only task we have left is to kill a witch and devour her soul, right? So until Lord Death finds one for us, we don't have any jobs. He'll send the other students out to kill kishins," the blonde said as she looked over at him. "So, how about we play around with Madeline for a bit? After all, when I went shopping this morning, I did get her some toys to play with."

Soul's face seemed to light up at this, and he quickly grabbed the baby girl from Maka's embrace. "I call playing with her first!" he exclaimed, and he proceeded to take the child into the living room of their apartment and place her on the center of their rug. This sudden reaction from her weapon surprised Maka greatly, but she didn't object whatsoever as she followed him and sat down on the couch to watch the two of them play together.

Maka watched as Soul dragged a small, pink toy across the ground and made several, various noises to attract the attention of the small baby girl. She smiled to herself, seeing as how she never thought her lazy, inactive partner would do such a thing in her view.

In all reality, both Maka and Soul had a thing going for each other. But, neither of them realized it. Even with Maka's intelligence, she still failed to see why Soul got jealous of Death the Kid whenever he was around his meister, and Soul failed to see why Maka got jealous whenever Tsubaki or **_any_** other woman for that matter hung around him. And neither of them were courageous enough to admit their feelings for one another, thus they remained in nothing more than a friendship, even though they both wished for more.

But, even if they were brave enough to admit their feelings for one another, would they be able to have their relationship? A relationship as lovers was forbidden and taboo, and Spirit had ignored that rule whenever he conceived Maka with her mother. Maka sighed quietly, this thought running through her mind as she continued watching her partner play with the baby girl.

She had yearned for Soul for a very long time, and the only way they could be together officially without penalty is if Soul managed to become a Death Scythe. Once he was a Death Scythe, they were no longer considered students of the school, and they could do whatever they pleased. This gave Maka a slight surge of hope, and her heart fluttered in her chest. But, perhaps they could keep it a secret for a while until Soul managed to become a Death Scythe. Was that too risky?

She gave a quiet sigh, and when she finally snapped out of her thoughts, she saw that Soul had fallen asleep with Madeline on his chest. She was passed out as well, and Maka smiled softly. She grabbed a blanket from the closet in the apartment, and placed it onto the both of them. She dropped to her knees beside her partner, and with a very soft smile, placed a butterfly kiss upon his cheek.

**_"_****_I love you, Soul Evans. Even if I can't tell you just yet, I'll figure out something. And when I do, I'll tell you. And maybe, just maybe, you'll accept me."_**


	3. Thoughts and Decisions

Soul groaned. Once more, he was awakened by the goddamn sun shining through the window. Sometimes, he wished the sun would just take its happy ass and go somewhere else, but he knew that would be a terrible, terrible thing to happen. He rubbed his palms along his eyes, a slight wetness coating his hands from his 'morning-tears' as he called them. When he was finally able to rid his vision of the blurriness that had formed there overnight, he realized that he had come face-to-face with a smiling and seemingly-excited Madeline.

He gave a toothy grin, his hand gently rubbing the top of her head. Her hair was so soft, just like it should be. He felt Madeline's hands happily tap on his chest, and he watched as she wriggled around on his chest.

"Hey, Maka! Where the heck are you?"

He heard a laugh from the kitchen, and Maka poked her head out from around the corner.

"I'm making breakfast, Soul! What, you don't want little Madeline on your chest? I can always take her in here with me, and-"

Before she said any more, she saw Soul sit up and hug the small child against his chest, which resulted her bursting into a fit of happy giggles.

"Hell no! I wanna play with her and stuff…"

Maka smiled to herself as she returned into the kitchen to finish her breakfast preparations. Soul may not like to admit it, but he really was a loving and caring teenager. Maka could tell that just from the way he cared about a child who had been in their lives for less than a week.

She slid the spatula, which she held in her right hand, under the flattened batter in the skillet and skillfully flipped it over onto its other side. She sighed softly as she watched the cooking batter bubble slightly, and she glanced over her shoulder to check on Soul through the small window that allowed vision into the living room.

She saw him on the couch still, Madeline in his hands, and he was 'flying' her around in front of him. She could hear Madeline's screams of excitement over the baking goods in front of her, and it made her lips curl upwards into a smile. Of course, she would never tell Soul that she saw him playing in such a cute manner with Madeline; it would ruin his 'coolness' as he called it.

She heard Soul step into the kitchen, and he inhaled deeply.

"Oh, hell yes. Bacon and pancakes. Damn, Maka, you really know what I like!"

"Soul, you've been my partner for years. Of course I know what you like."

"Hey, you think little squirt here can have solid food yet? I want her to try some."

Maka laughed softly and placed the pancakes she had just finished onto the now finished stack of steaming dough.

"I'm sure she can have some pancakes, since they're soft enough. She has her teeth, after all. Just nothing hard like the bacon, okay?"

Soul gave a quick nod and carried Madeline to the table, putting her on his lap as he slapped some pancakes onto the plate in front of him. Make took her place on the opposite side of the table, and she watched as Soul tore a piece off and handed it to the baby girl in front of him.

Madeline's brows furrowed slightly at this new thing, and she waved it around before gnawing on the end of it. It took her a moment to adjust to the taste, as seen by the way her face contorted into one of uncertainty, but she then gave a toothy grin. Soul smirked and ruffled her hair very gently.

"Atta girl. Gotta learn to love the good stuff!"

Maka shook her head and sighed softly. She knew that Soul was arrogant, but he could be a good father if he wanted to be. Still, there was this thought nagging at the back of her mind that Lord Death would even allow them to keep the child while they were still on the road of making Soul a Death Scythe.

After the three of them had finished their morning meal, Maka did the dishes while Soul continued to entertain the small baby girl. She watched as the bubbles flowed from the top of the white plate and spiraled down into the sink, deep thoughts clouding her intelligent mind.

* * *

><p>Several weeks passed for the trio, and Soul was now up to eighty-six Keishan souls. Maka made sure to keep close track on how many souls her weapon had devoured, seeing as how the two of them rarely had time to go out Keishan hunting with little Madeline in their lives.<p>

Over the weeks, Maka and Soul only grew closer to each other. It was almost as though they were a married couple now that Madeline was around. Unfortunately, this began to attract the attention of several students around the school, as well as Maka's overprotective father. He worried that Maka would make a terrible mistake with Soul, and break the ultimate rule Lord Death had set in place for the students of the school.

However, Maka didn't have anything like that in mind. Right now, she was dead set on turning Soul into a Death Scythe, and taking care of Madeline. Currently, Maka was home alone. Soul had taken Madeline out for a stroll around town; the night air was lovely, and Soul didn't want to miss his chance to spend time with his 'little squirt' as he called her. Maka's green eyes followed a back and forth pattern as she scrolled across the lines in the book she was currently reading; "Lord Death, the Uprising." It was something she had been assigned in class, and was written by none other than their headmaster himself.

Her attention was drawn to the door as she heard a knock on it, and she sighed as she shut the book and placed it on the table beside the couch. After padding in front of the door, she turned the handle and pulled back, only to reveal an excited Tsubaki.

"Maka! Are you going to come to the Death Ball?"

This question took Maka aback, and she blinked slowly as she tried to comprehend Tsubaki's words.

"The Death Ball? When is it?"

"It's in a week, silly! I wanted to come over and talk about it with you!"

Maka sighed quietly and brought Tsubaki inside, sitting down with her on the couch. The raven-haired women proceeded to tell her all about the ball; how it would have extravagant decorations and all the cutest boys would be there, and how Black*Star had asked her to go with him.

Maka laughed softly as she listened to the excited girl. She wasn't certain if she wanted to go to the ball, seeing as how she didn't have a date.

"Well, Maka, I heard that Soul was going to ask you to be his partner at the ball…"

Maka froze. Had she heard Tsubaki correctly? Had Tsubaki just told her that Soul was planning on asking her to the dance, not as her partner, but as her _date_? She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. Sure, she had a slight liking for her partner, but nothing _that_ intimate yet.

"I see… well… perhaps I shall come. It all depends on the timing. I would have to find a suitable sitter for Madeline, and I'm sure as hell not giving her to my father. Hell only knows what he would do to the poor thing."

"Well, what about Marie? She's certainly a kind woman, and you know how she feels about family and such."

"Hmm… perhaps. I'll still have to think it over, Tsubaki. I cannot make a decision on the spot like this. So, I'll tell you whenever I make up my mind, okay?"

Tsubaki gave a small nod and hopped to her feet. She jogged over to the door and pulled it open, smiling at Maka over her shoulder.

"Well, I'll see you later, Maka!"

Maka waved, and soon enough, she was alone once again. She sighed deeply, her head leaning back to rest against the head of the couch.

**_Would she go to the dance? And, more importantly, would Tsubaki's words about Soul turn out to be true?_**


End file.
